ANATID/E. 



451 



■•^■'^'^^-^v^^^, m 



THE GOLDEN-EYE. 



Clangula glaucion (Linnaeus). 



The Golden-eye generally arrives on our coasts about the middle 

 of October ; and so long as the inland waters are not frozen it 

 frequents many of our lakes, as well as rivers and tidal estuaries. 

 Immature birds sometimes remain until the end of May, and the 

 Rev. H. A. Macpherson states that he saw a year-old male in 

 North Uist, on July loth 1886. As a rule, however, the species is 

 comparatively scarce in the Outer Hebrides, though common in 

 winter in the Orkneys and Shetlands. In Ireland it is well known 

 on the estuaries, and especially on the fresh-water loughs. The young 

 and the females are often called ' Morillons,' and are considered 

 by many fowlers as quite distinct from the far rarer mature males. 



This species is uncommon in the Faeroes, and still more so in 

 Iceland ; being represented in the latter island, as well as in Greenland, 

 by the larger Barrow's Golden-eye (C islandica), the male of which 

 has a greater developement of crest and a more purple gloss on the 

 head, while the female is barely recognizable by her average 

 superiority in size. In Scandinavia our Golden-eye is common in 

 summer as far north as lat. 70° even where the trees — in which it 

 usually makes its nest — are hardly large enough to provide holes 



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